Aunt and Niece Team Up to Better Their Business and Themselves

Aunt and Niece Team Up to Better Their Business and Themselves

In a small village along the northwest coast of Honduras you can find Waldina, Ana and their nontraditional family striving to improve their lives with both formal and informal education.

20-year-old Ana has always admired her aunt Waldina, who helped care for her since she was very young. Waldina now helps her care for her younger brother, Guilliam, while raising her own three-year-old son, Edras. Waldina has set an example for Ana through her perseverance to provide for her loved ones by strengthening her business. Although Waldina did not complete her schooling after 6th grade, she has sought any trainings and lessons she has been able to attend in order to develop her shoe and clothing business. Her love of learning shows in her interest in Adelante educational lessons, and she has instilled the value of education in Ana, too.

With Waldina’s unwavering support, Ana is now the first in her family to complete her high school degree in accounting, and this month she begins her second year of university to study business administration. “Other people asked, ‘Why do you need school? There are no jobs.’ My aunt always believed in me.” Waldina encourages her niece to study hard. Ana is grateful to Waldina, and helps out with the business, attending university classes on the weekends and helping with sales during the week.

Now Ana is sharing a new opportunity with her aunt: using videos to learn a new trade in piñata making. At 40, Waldina is excited for the chance to expand her business and her skills. When we met, Ana was meticulously completing an investment plan for Waldina to purchase more shoes plus materials for piñata construction. With an Adelante loan of $181, she has purchased multi-colored tissue paper, glue, balloons, and other crafting tools. Ana has a basic smartphone, and they invest a little money each month to access internet services.

Here is a Minion piñata-making video tutorial that Ana showed me during our visit. Waldina is currently using it to finish this piñata to sell for an upcoming birthday party…

and she has already completed multiple others.

Waldina is grateful to Ana for her support, and continues encouraging her to pursue her dreams.

So what does Ana see in her future? “I would like to work in a bank… or even a microfinance institute like Adelante!”

Eve Dolkart

This blog post was written by Eve Dolkart, Adelante’s International Development Coordinator from Adelante´s headquarters in La Ceiba, Honduras. Eve has a Master’s in Public Administration and undergraduate degree in Economics from Clark University in Worcester, MA. She began work with Adelante in July, 2014.